Kemi Badenoch backs Darlington nurses in trans row

Nurses working at Darlington Memorial Hospital have said they feel “unsafe” after a transgender woman, born as a man, was allowed to change in the female locker room.

Eight staff – seven nurses and healthcare assistant – are embroiled in an ongoing employment tribunal case alleging sexual discrimination and harassment, and say they felt “intimidated and threatened” after going to the hospital’s HR department who they feel dismissed concerns.

They say Trust policy allows staff to identify as the opposite gender and use the opposite sex’s locker rooms, toilers and showers, and they were told they needed to ‘be more inclusive’, ‘compromise’, ‘broaden their mindset’ and get ‘re-educated’ after going to higher-ups.

Darlington Memorial Hospital. (Image: Sarah Caldecott) Conservative Leader Ms Badenoch gave the nurses her “full support” in meeting with four of them in Westminster on Monday (March 24).

After the meeting in Parliament’s Portcullis House the leader of the opposition said: “A woman should never be forced to get undressed in the presence of a man.

“The case of the Darlington nurses is yet another example of women being demonised and patronised for raising legitimate concerns about single-sex spaces.

“I fought against gender ideology in government, and I will continue to do so as Leader of the Opposition.

A meeting was held at Portcullis House in Westminster on Monday (March 24). (Image: CHRISTIAN CONCERN) “There is no place for gender ideology in the NHS. These brave nurses have my full support in their fight to restore common sense to an environment where single sex spaces should be non-negotiable.”

The County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust which runs the Memorial previously made a temporary locker room for staff uncomfortable with sharing with the trans nurse.

The Northern Echo contacted the Trust for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.

A spokesperson said previously: “County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust is committed to providing an inclusive and respectful work environment for all employees. We are aware of recent issues raised and are taking these very seriously.

“We would like to assure our employees and the wider community that as soon as these issues were brought to our attention, we initiated meetings to fully understand the needs and concerns of the staff members under our resolution policy.

“We recognise that this is a hugely sensitive issue and as well as taking into consideration the feedback and concerns raised by the team, we are working to adhere to legal requirements and best practices.

“We are committed to working together with all parties to find a solution that respects the rights and dignity of all individuals while maintaining the highest standards of professionalism and fairness.”

Speaking after the meeting, Bethany Hutchison, President of the Darlington Nursing Union – formed by the women and supported by Christian Concern and its legal arm, the Christian Legal Centre – said: “We were honoured to meet Kemi Badenoch and to have the opportunity to discuss our story and concerns, not just for us, but for women across the NHS. We really felt her support and knowledge on the issues involved, which was encouraging.

Kemi Badenoch (centre) with Darlington nurses (L-R) Tracey Hooper, Bethany Hutchison, Lisa Lockey and Annice Grundy. (Image: CHRISTIAN CONCERN) “We are straight up hard-working NHS nurses. We didn’t choose this battle; it came to us when the NHS decided it was appropriate to force us to get undressed, before working on busy and pressurised wards, in front of a biological man.

“These policies are penalising nurses like us and causing damage in an already over-stretched NHS.

“Urgent change is needed, yet we have repeatedly been told that action cannot be taken because of a Supreme Court case that has little or no relation to our situation.

“We fear that this is being used as a smokescreen by those who have no intention of bringing about real, sensible change for safe spaces for women in the NHS.”

The trans nurse at the centre of the row was last month named after an employment tribunal judge threw out an application to remain anonymous.

Rose Henderson lives as a woman but was born a man. The nurse previously told colleagues she has a girlfriend and was trying to get them pregnant, they claim.

Ms Badenoch (left) says the nurses have her full support. (Image: CHRISTIAN CONCERN) Rose told the tribunal “horrible comments” online had left her “scared for my own safety” and the interventions of high-profile figures like JK Rowling had “amplified” the other nurses’ claims against her. But dismissing the anonymity application employment Judge Sharon Langridge said “no specific instances of the ‘horrible comments’ are set out in the witness statement, and no particular events are identified in support of the feeling of being at risk”.

She said she had been using the shared changing room with the other nurses since September 2019 without incident.

LGBT support groups in the town previously said they feared the legal battle could spell an increase in violent transphobic attacks. Jane Mithcell from the Phoenix Trans group told the Echo last July: “We are finding Christian Concern’s escalation of publicity about this case is stirring transphobia in a town where such prejudice has rarely surfaced in recent times.”

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The full “landmark” tribunal case, expected to last three weeks, will begin on June 16.

The nurses met with Health Secretary Wes Streeting last year who previously said the NHS had to “find a way through that treats trans people with respect and respects women’s safe spaces.”

But they say despite that meeting the government has taken no action to resolve the issues they raised.